Lady Wildcats advance to state finalsMARMADUKE — The Hector Lady Wildcats defeated the Quitman Lady Bulldogs 58-50 on Saturday in the semifinals of the Class 2A State Tournament. Hector entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed from the West Regional. They defeated the No. 1 seed from the South, Spring Hill, 74-61 in round one. The Lady Wildcats defeated Riverside 39-33 to advance to the semifinals. Hector head coach Walt Davis said he was "just thrilled" with the chance to play f...

Lady Cyclones reach state championshipThe Russellville Lady Cyclones’ screams of joy echoed throughout Cyclone Arena after their 45-35 victory over the Little Rock Parkview Patriots on Saturday in the semifinals of the Class 6A State Tournament. Several players openly wept as they embraced at mid-court. D.J.Khaled’s “All I Do Is Win” blared over the sound system. It was appropriate. The Lady Cyclones had just punched their ticket to the Class 6A State Championship. “I’m overjoyed,...

Survive and Advance: ATU Golden Suns advance in the Great American Conference TournamentThey are the three most powerful words come tournament time in college basketball: survive and advance. Arkansas Tech University did exactly that on Friday night at Bruin Fieldhouse in Bartlesville, Okla. Aujana Dawkins' layup at the final buzzer allowed the nationally 15th-ranked Golden Suns to slip past the University of Arkansas-Monticello 60-58 in the first round of the 2016 Great American Conference Tournament. With the win, top-seeded Ar...

Cyclones’ season ends to Pine BluffWhen Colter Goodman checked into the game with 13.1 seconds remaining, the crowd knew exactly what that meant — Russellville needed a timely 3-pointer to tie their game against the Pine Bluff Zebras and give themselves a chance to keep their season alive. Steven Baty fed Goodman the ball in the right wing, but Goodman’s shot bounced off the rim as time ran out. It wasn’t the first missed opportunity the Cyclones (16-10) suffered during the 58-...

Lady Cyclones advance to 6A semisThe Russellville Lady Cyclones lived to fight another day after surviving the Marion Lady Patriots 47-46 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A State Tournament inside Cyclone Arena. Russellville (21-6) took the floor with poise and quickly established a 21-9 lead, but the Lady Patriots would not be easily undone. Marion pulled within a single shot several times in the third and fourth period but could never climb ahead of the Lady C...

Lady Apaches nab first 4A state tourney winMALVERN — The Pottsville Lady Apaches captured their first 4A state tournament win in program history over the Dollarway Lady Cardinals on Wednesday. “I am so proud of these young ladies,” head coach Chance Johnson said. “We made history tonight by getting our first state win, something these young ladies were determined to do all season.” Pottsville won 55-42 on Wednesday. They led 19-11 after the fist period and 27-17 at halftime. After the ...

Apaches baseball adjusts for 2016 seasonPOTTSVILLE — Apaches head coach Wes McCrotty said he’s still looking for that winning lineup for the 2016 Pottsville baseball season. The talent is there to be competitive, McCrotty said, he just has to figure out when and which combinations of players will give them the best chances for success. A perfect example is the pitching staff. All of them could start, McCrotty said, but it will come down to figuring out which scenarios best suit whic...

Wonder Boys beat Northeastern StateArkansas Tech (7-10, 2-4 Great American Conference) took advantage of two Northeastern State (6-6) errors and senior outfielder Josh Watkins hit a clutch two RBI double in the eighth inning to defeat the Riverhawks 4-1 in a non-conference baseball game Tuesday at Tech Field. Next Up The Wonder Boys will return to GAC action on Friday as they will host Southern Nazarene for a three-game weekend series. The first game of the series will begin Fr...

by
ATU Athletic CommunicationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Hector wins round oneMARMADUKE — The Hector Wildcats claimed a 69-64 victory over the Dermott Rams on Tuesday in the first round of the Class 2A State Tournament. Hector trailed 15-13 after the first period and 38-28 at halftime but crawled within 46-42 by the end of the third period. Tanner Gaines and Rustin Hays combined for 53 of the Wildcats’ 69 total points. Hays finished with 31 points, while Gaines added 22. Jalen Ferguson scored seven points. Dalton Day sc...

RHS swim teams compete at state meetBENTONVILLE — Eight Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones swimmers and one diver competed in the 2016 Arkansas State Swimming and Diving Championships in Bentonville on Friday and Saturday. The women’s side of the 7A/6A meet was won by Bentonville who scored 439.5 points. The were followed by Central (292), Fayetteville (281), Cabot (174), Jonesboro (145), Conway (132), North Little Rock (120), Bryant (94), Alma (89) and Rogers (84.5) rounde...

Pirates open season with successDOVER — The Dover Pirates opened their season with a pair of wins on Monday and Tuesday at J.P. Lovelady Park. Dover defeated the Booneville Bearcats 17-4 on Monday and the Mayflower Eagles 3-2 on Tuesday. Christian Ewing threw 10 strikeouts against the Eagles on Tuesday. Ewing allowed two earned runs on six hits and two walks across six innings. Seth Cheak got the save as he put away the final three outs. Dover trailed 1-0 after the first inn...

Lady Devils condemn DardanelleATKINS — The Atkins Lady Red Devils defeated the Dardanelle Lady Sand Lizards softball team 8-4 on Tuesday. Dardanelle (1-1) blanked the Russellville Lady Cyclones on Monday, but head coach Lyndsey Hill thought her team played a little flat against Atkins. “We did not come out with the same intensity level we had against Russellville,” she said. “It took us a while to get our bats going. Atkins’ pitcher did a great job at keeping us off balanc...

Lady Cyclones tie North LRLITTLE ROCK — The Russellville Lady Cyclones tied the North Little Rock Charging Wildcats 1-1 on Tuesday. The Charging Wildcats took a 1-0 lead off a corner kick, but with 30 seconds left in the game Russellville’s Sofy Moreno fed Alli Preston who promptly put the ball in the back of the net. “Our motto his year is ‘fight all night,’” Lady Cyclones head coach Kelly Young said. “We have preached that since January, and that’s exactly what they ...

Hoops Regional roundupLAVACA — The Two Rivers Lady Gators were defeated by Greenland 54-41 on Saturday in the Class 3A-1 Regional Tournament. “Greenland is by far the best team we’ve played this year,” Lady Gators head coach Lyn Alexander said. “They have the post play with guards that can shoot. We had our chances and just couldn’t hit shots down the stretch.” Two Rivers (26-4) was led in scoring by Grace Coates with 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Lady Gators will...

Lady Red Devils baffle PerryvilleATKINS — The Atkins Lady Red Devils rode an early lead to an 11-0 victory over the Perryville Lady Mustangs on Monday. Atkins garnered 10 runs in the first three innings. After a passed ball, Sydney Webb was walked. Ivy Sweeden stole home and Payton Harvill hit a two-RBI double. Bailey Thomas followed up with an RBI triple. Thomas was scored on a single from Kaylen Martin to put the Lady Red Devils up 8-0 at the end of the first. Atkins added ...

Cyclones eager to host 6A tourneyWhile the Russellville Cyclones and Lady Cyclones won’t kick off their state tournament runs until Thursday thanks to each earning No.1 seeds and first-round byes, Cyclone Arena will be bustling with tournament action tonight. The 6A State Tournament will tip off at 1 p.m. today with the Benton Lady Panthers taking on the Marion Lady Patriots. The winner will move on to face Russellville on Thursday. The Cyclones will play the winner between t...

Lady Sand Lizards shut out RussellvilleThe Russellville Lady Cyclones were shut out by the Dardanelle Lady Sand Lizards 8-0 on Monday at M.J. Hickey Park. Russellville collected five hits but was unable to move a runner across the plate. Meanwhile, Dardanelle had six earned runs on 17 hits. “I thought the girls did a good job jumping on them early,” Lady Sand Lizards head coach Lyndsey Hill said. “We came out swinging and got a lead from the start and that helped settle our first-g...

Russellville soccer ties BentonvilleThe Russellville Cyclones soccer team tied the Bentonville Tigers 1-1 on Monday at Cyclone Stadium in a battle between two defending state champions. Russellville head coach Jared Fuller said he thought his team opened a little timid but came on strong in the second half. “Bentonville is the Class 7A state champions, so I think they were wondering if we could play with them,” Fuller said. “As the game went on, they realized that this is a diff...

Cyclones baseball wins home openerWill McCrotty said he was happy to get his first win with the Russellville Cyclones out of the way. “I’m sure everyone was glad to get the first one out of the way,” McCrotty said. “I don’t know if nervous is the right word, but we were excited to get the first win under our belts.” Russellville (1-0) defeated the Shiloh Christian Saints 5-4 on Monday at M.J. Hickey Park. The Cyclones got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the third period. The...